Chris Bujiriri (DRC / Burundi, 1991)

Christian Bujiriri is a self-taught painter and civil engineer by training, born in Goma in Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1991. It was while pursuing his civil engineering studies at the University of Burundi that he opened himself to the art world thanks to his encounter with Burundian painters in 2012. The artist lives and works in Bujumbura, Burundi.

Having grown up in areas of constant military and ethnic conflict, Bujiriri's work explores the relationship between human beings and their identity. This exploration stems from the observation that a lack of awareness of one's identity can lead to humanitarian catastrophes.

Believing that to understand and become aware of one's identity, it is essential to know and connect with one's past and history, the artist first decided to investigate the significant underrepresentation of female role models in the local history art, which led to his 2016 series of paintings titled Warrior Queens.

His new series titled Zahabu, the Swahili word for Gold, confronts the new cold war for resources which has inflamed the world since 2025. This series investigates what Bujiriri refers to as the Anarchy of Abundance, whereby resource rich countries repetitively fail to optimize the exploitation of their riches so that it may reward the ensemble of their population. Looking at Burundi particularly, the artist approached this series with still life, a very codified painting genre allowing him to depict local minerals, mining tools, fruits, and fauna which he symbolically rearranges into contemporary visual metaphors.

CHRIS BUJIRIRI

1991

Zahabu (Anarchy of Abundance) 01

2026

OIl on Canvas

150 x 200 cm

CHRIS BUJIRIRI

1991

Zahabu (Anarchy of Abundance) 02

2026

Acrylic on Canvas

99.5 x 68.5 cm

CHRIS BUJIRIRI

1991

Zahabu (Anarchy of Abundance) 03

2026

Acrylic on Canvas

90 x 50 cm

CHRIS BUJIRIRI

1991

Zahabu (Anarchy of Abundance) 04

2026

Acrylic on Canvas

100 x 69 cm